opinion

On Monday afternoon I heard from my garden the alarming sound of an emergency vehicle, its alarm wailing, trying to find a distressed victim somewhere along the Kilberry road.

We have no mobile signal here in south Knapdale – we can only hope when calamity strikes, someone nearby can reach a land-line. Some 15 minutes later, I saw the yellow rescue helicopter circle overhead – obviously searching for the incident. Sadly, it appears this helicopter was not informed of the exact co-ordinates of the distress call. It circled overhead for a further wasted 10 minutes before opting for a six-mile sweep over the forested inland area and eventually even as far as the coast at Loch Coalisport.